Dr. Maria C. Khoury and her husband have managed to build the only microbrewery in the Middle East. The Taybeh Brewery was established in 1994 when she, of Greek descent, and he, a Palestinian native, returned to his homeland to live. After managing to get necessary permits, they began brewing Taybeh Beer. It is now served in Palestine in predominantly Christian areas as the areas that are Muslim do not serve alchohol.
We attended a reception and dinner in Bethlehem where Taybeh was the only beer served. Numerous hosts encouraged me to have one and were obviously proud to have a Palestinian beer to offer guests. As the only microbrewery in the Middle East, this beer is one of a kind in 26 countries. It is already being exported to Japan, Chile and parts of Asia. They hope to export it to America in the future.
Dr. Khoury is also the proud organizer of the Taybeh Oktoberfest, to take place October 2-3 in Taybeh-Ramallah, Palestine. For more information on the brewery, go to www.taybehbeer.com
I made a purchase while I was in the brewery–two shirts for my sons. They will be the only guys in Lexington with those shirts on and maybe one day they’ll be able to order a Taybeh Golden!
Brewery in Taybeh
Taybeh Beer
